Aquavision – Distance Learning

Distance Learning from the Texas State Aquarium

Enjoy the charismatic animals of the Texas State Aquarium LIVE in your classroom! The Aquavision Flint Hills Resources Distance Learning Studio provides access to our animals and professionals through web-based videoconferencing technology. Aligned with the Texas Education Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), Aquavision lets teachers add high-quality programming to their units without leaving the classroom.

For more information or to register, please call (361) 881-1203 or email aquavision@txstateaq.org. Scheduling can also be completed via the registration form below. Please schedule your program at least two weeks in advance. Additional programs of equal or lesser value will be discounted when booked for the same day. Please note cancellation must be made at least 48 hours in advance to avoid billing.

FALL 2016 DISCOUNT

September through December receive a special 20% discount off ALL our popular Creature Tales. These PreK-2nd grade programs allow your students to enjoy an engaging animal story and then virtually meet the superstar of the book! Please note this special cannot be combined with any other discounts.

Creature Tales – 30 min

Aquavision introduces an exciting animal program with a twist! Students will enjoy listening to an animal story then have the opportunity to virtually meet and observe the superstar of the book as well as explore awesome animal biofacts and identify the animal’s adaptations.

Sea Star

Your students will enjoy an animal story, and then virtually meet the superstar animal of the book. Read along, make observations, recall facts, identify adaptations, and get an up-close look at a live sea star.

Sharks

Your students will enjoy an animal story and then virtually meet the superstar animal of the book. Read along, make animal observations, recall facts, and investigate shark biofacts. Get an up-close look at our resident sharks though real time cameras, and identify threats to these ocean hunters.

Sea Turtle

Your students will enjoy an animal themed story as they read along and virtually meet the superstar animal of the book. Students will have the opportunity to recall and identify details from the story, observe sea turtle biofacts and get an up-close look at our resident sea turtles through real time cameras.

Fee: $60 | Additional Programs: $40 | Maximum: 30 students

Creature Features – 30 min

Get all your questions answered during our LIVE student-led creature feature. Students are able to observe, compare, and identify the animal’s special characteristics and habitats.

Land Turtles

Investigate the characteristics that make a turtle a reptile. Students will observe a live turtle and describe its unique adaptations for life on land.

What Lives in a Tide Pool?

Tide pools are home to spiky, spiny, and clingy animals. While observing hermit crabs, sea urchins, and sea stars, your students will describe and discuss the differences between these tide-pool animals.

Fee: $60 | Additional Programs: $40 | Maximum: 30 students

Amazing Adaptations/Conservation – 30 min

How do an animal’s body parts and habits help it survive? Have your students investigate this question as they observe our animal ambassadors through our real-time cameras and specially planned activities. Students will discuss the animal’s conservation status and learn what they can do to help these incredible creatures.

Dancing Dolphins

Join us as we learn how to move and talk like a dolphin! Get your students up and moving as they study the adaptations and body parts these mammals use to swim and survive in the ocean. Students will also discover how dolphins communicate using distinct clicks and whistles and then visit our Atlantic bottlenose dolphins through our real-time view into Dolphin Bay.

Fishy Friends

Let’s talk fishes LIVE from the Texas State Aquarium as your students observe, compare and contrast the diversity of fishes in Aquarium habitats. Together, we’ll differentiate between fish body shapes, infer how shapes help them survive and thrive in their habitats, and create a special fish drawing.

Meet Our Otters!

Meet Ari and Merlin, the North American River Otters in Texas State Aquarium’s Otter Creek habitat. Learn first-hand how an otter keeps warm and navigates through murky waters by dressing like an otter and constructing your own set of whiskers to mimic their amazing adaptations. View Ari and Merlin live and see what other adaptations help them to thrive in their environment.

Turtle Tots

Learn the differences among the five species of sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico and their conservation status. Through biofact exploration and a discussion of the cause and effect of human impact on these endangered animals, students can start to think about and discuss what they can do to help save sea turtles.

Fee:$85 | Additional Programs: $60 | Maximum: 30 students

Habitats of the Gulf of Mexico Tour – 30 min

The Gulf of Mexico is a dynamic and diverse ecosystem that supports a wide range of life. During this interactive tour, explore a variety of environments through our real-time cameras from the comforts of your own classroom. Make observations, predictions and comparisons of the inhabitants and their adaptations for survival in Gulf habitats.

Creature Features – 30 min

Get all your questions answered during our LIVE student-led creature feature. Students are able to observe, compare, and identify the animal’s special characteristics and habitats.

Land Turtles

Investigate the characteristics that make a turtle a reptile. Students will observe a live turtle and describe its unique adaptations for life on land.

What Lives in a Tide Pool?

Tide pools are home to spiky, spiny, and clingy animals. While observing hermit crabs, sea urchins, and sea stars, your students will describe and discuss the differences between these tide-pool animals.

Fee: $60 | Additional Programs: $40 | Maximum: 30 students

Amazing Adaptations/Conservation – 50 min

How do an animal’s body parts and habits help it survive? Have your students investigate this question as they observe our animal ambassadors through our real-time cameras and specially planned activities. Students will discuss the animal’s conservation status and learn what they can do to help these incredible creatures.

Coral Reef Under Construction

Coral reefs are referred to as the “tropical rainforests of the ocean.” Join us on a journey into this valuable habitat as we investigate the diversity of corals, learn their anatomy, and compare and contrast the differences between soft and hard corals. Students will apply their new learning when they construct and name their very own coral creations!

Let’s Talk Sharks!

Student’s will observe shark biofacts and explore how a shark’s skeleton, jaws, teeth, skin, and camouflage make them top predators. We will look at common shark species in the Gulf of Mexico as well as visit our sand tiger sharks, Hunter and Orion, live from the Texas State Aquarium. Discuss why shark conservation is important and what scientists are doing to conserve these mysterious animals.

Surviving Earth’s Biomes

Let’s investigate our Earth’s biomes and learn the characteristics that distinguish them from one another. Students will be asked to predict and explain how these animals are adapted to survive in a particular habitat and then have the opportunity to observe some of these animals live from our habitats throughout the program.

Turtle Tracks

Students become marine biologists as they track Tammy, a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, on her journey across the Gulf of Mexico. During their sea turtle study, students discuss why scientists track sea turtles and what technology they use. Student will read aloud and plot Tammy’s migration path, hypothesize why she may have traveled to different locations, and identify potential threats encountered in the Gulf of Mexico waters.

Fee: $125 | Additional Programs: $90 | Maximum: 30 students

Habitats of the Gulf of Mexico Tour – 50 min

The Gulf of Mexico is a dynamic and diverse ecosystem that supports a wide range of life. During this interactive tour, explore a variety of environments through our real-time cameras from the comforts of your own classroom. Make observations, predictions and comparisons of the inhabitants and their adaptations for survival in Gulf habitats.

Expert Chats – 50 min

Interact with STEM professionals and learn what it takes to enter STEM fields. Students have the opportunity to chat live with professionals from the Texas State Aquarium as well as scientists, engineers and researchers from around the world.

Please check back for upcoming Expert Chats.

Habitats of the Gulf of Mexico Tour – 50 min

The Gulf of Mexico is a dynamic and diverse ecosystem that supports a wide range of life. During this interactive tour, explore a variety of environments through our real-time cameras from the comforts of your own classroom. Make observations, predictions and comparisons of the inhabitants and their adaptations for survival in Gulf habitats.

Fee: $100 | Additional Programs: $70 | Maximum: 30 students

Career Exploration – 50 min

Join us live with our expert animal care staff, and get an inside look at their daily duties providing for the physical and mental wellbeing of our animal ambassadors. Students will have the opportunity to submit questions about aquarium careers and find out what education and skill sets are needed to work here at the Texas State Aquarium.

Expert Chats – 50 min

Interact with STEM professionals and learn what it takes to enter STEM fields. Students have the opportunity to chat live with scientists, engineers and researchers from around the world.

Please check back soon.

Habitats of the Gulf of Mexico Tour – 50 min

The Gulf of Mexico is a dynamic and diverse ecosystem that supports a wide range of life. During this interactive tour, explore a variety of environments through our real-time cameras from the comforts of your own classroom. Make observations, predictions and comparisons of the inhabitants and their adaptations for survival in Gulf habitats.

Fee: $100 | Additional Programs: $70 | Maximum: 30 students

Career Exploration – 50 min

Join us live with our expert animal care staff, and get an inside look at their daily duties providing for the physical and mental wellbeing of our animal ambassadors. Students will have the opportunity to submit questions about aquarium careers and find out what education and skill sets are needed to work here at the Texas State Aquarium.

Habitats of the Gulf of Mexico Tour – 30-50 min

The Gulf of Mexico is a dynamic and diverse ecosystem that supports a wide range of life. During this interactive tour, explore a variety of environments through our real-time cameras from the comforts of your own classroom. Make observations, predictions and comparisons of the inhabitants and their adaptations for survival in Gulf habitats.

Fee: $100 | Additional Programs: $70 | Maximum: 30 students

The Texas State Aquarium is proud to announce its Flint Hills Resources Aquavision Distance Learning program has earned a Pinnacle Award for the second year in a row from the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC). CILC is a national and international leader in content aggregation, consulting, and support services that assist organizations with the utilization of videoconferencing and other collaborative technologies.

CILC has bestowed the Pinnacle Award annually since 2008 on organizations that receive outstanding scores on program evaluations submitted by educators and end users. According to CILC, receiving the award “indicates remarkable quality of educational content and exceptional skill at program delivery.”